charlottearoora

@curlyq177 I haven't officially accepted the offer, but after a conversation with a professor today, I'm pretty darn sure that I'm going to Penn State. I'm going to live alone (with my dog), so I'm not looking for roommates, but I would be interested in connecting with other Penn State people.

Declining University of Kansas, University of Iowa, University of Oregon, Idaho State (Meridian), Portland State, and Purdue today. Good luck, everyone!

Thanks, these are good thoughts. I visited Nebraska and I don't have a great gut-feeling about it, but I haven't visited Penn State (only talked to a student and professors over the phone), so I may very well have the same gut-feeling about it if I had visited. I know neither town is ideal for me (I really don't enjoy sports and both are HUGE football towns), but I got a better feeling from talking to professors at Penn State. I'm also worried about the work commitment after graduation-- what if I find out that working in schools is not a good fit for me and then I end up stuck in a job I hate for four years? I doubt this will happen, but it's possible. Sorry for the rant and good luck in your own decision-making!

I heard this past week, but it's a very specific grant that I applied for (I think they can fund two students). I don't know about how assistantships work or when they will be given out. It's frustrating how late funding is given out and how opaque the process is! Good luck with your decision.

TL;DR: Do I choose the closer school with the better funding offer or the school with my dream program, okay funding, and a less-than-ideal location? First off, I am super fortunate to have been accepted into grad school, and especially to have received funding offers. I should be thrilled. However, right now I am sick to my stomach with the realization that I have zero idea how to make this decision. I feel like I'll have made the wrong decision whichever one I choose. Any wisdom/strategies/psychic advice is welcome. I have less than two weeks to decide and I'm really torn. I haven't visited either school, but I'm visiting UNL at the end of the week. I can't afford to visit Penn State before the deadline. Some things that matter to me: Not leaving with debt Not being crazy stressed/busy (to the point of it affecting my mental health-- I don't need a TON of downtime, but I do need introvert not-surrounded-by-people time to stay sane) Being able to roadtrip back and forth from Seattle if possible (I hate planes and have a dog, which makes travel more complicated) Living in a dog-friendly town (dog parks nearby, hopefully some kind of agility/nosework/barnhunt classes available in town) Leaving with the skills to be an AAC specialist in schools These are the two offers: A. University of Nebraska-Lincoln Pros: People and town seem friendly Low cost of living Assistantship + fellowship offer that should (if I budget correctly) cover tuition, insurance, travel, and housing, and allow me to walk away with extra money Roadtrip-able (not a short trip, but I could manage it), and two airports within an hour and a half of the school if needed Cons: Would require working up to 20 hours/week in the department (for the second year, this would likely be work related to my thesis or my own research) AAC department has a good reputation, but seems to do more assessment and work with adult aphasia clients, so I'm not sure I'd come away with the skills I'd need to do the kind of work I want to do in schools B. Penn State Pros: Offered a very selective grant (tuition + small stipend) with the opportunity to get AAC training/experience from some really well-known researchers in the field Their program and approach to AAC are exactly what I am looking for and it would provide the perfect experience for what I want to do after grad school No work requirement during grad school More clinical opportunities due to proximity to larger East Coast cities (Philadelphia, DC, New York, etc.) Closer to my best friend (in Connecticut) Cons: Funding would not cover travel costs and living expenses Too far away from Seattle and affordable airports are 3+ hours away Not psyched about the town/geographic area (I've lived on the East Coast before and did not enjoy it-- this is not quite the coast, but I'm worried it might have the same feel) Higher cost of living Commitment to work in schools for four years after grad school (I am planning to do this anyway, but this means I couldn't change my mind) The program seems pretty intensive and might be overly stressful HELP!!!!

I was accepted but will only attend if offered funding. (I'm out-of-state and it's too expensive at full price.)

So glad this thread exists! It can be pretty hard to find information about which schools give funding and I was looking for a list like this when trying to decide where to apply. I have pretty strong stats (GRE: 169/162, GPA: 3.93) and a somewhat unusual background for the field. I'm a Washington state resident. I'm still hearing back from schools, but so far the schools that I know will be affordable due to funding are: University of Nebraska-Lincoln (combination of assistantship and fellowship should fully cover tuition for two years, plus stipend should cover cost of living, so basically fully funded) Idaho State University, Meridian (low in-state tuition through WRGP, research assistantship should at least cover tuition if not more) I'll try to update with any other offers if they come in. I applied to most schools specifically because they seemed to have potential for funding, but I've only heard about funding from the two schools above. My decision will be based almost entirely on the financial situation. In case people are curious, the schools where I've been accepted but haven't received any information about funding are: University of Iowa, Purdue, Penn State, and University of Kansas.

The best place to ask this might be the Facebook group for the program. I did the program, but I did it in a different order and number of classes per semester than recommended, so I'm probably not the right person to ask. If you search in the group, a lot of people have asked similar question-- I used it to figure out which courses to pair by workload.

This is a big concern for me too. A lot of the programs I applied to specifically for a chance at funding. I looked for programs that have grants, fellowships, and assistantships that I am qualified for and have an okay shot at getting. My back-up is a school that has low in-state tuition. It's not actually in my state, but I can get in-state tuition through the Western Regional Graduate Program. I'm not sure if other regions have similar programs, but it's a way to get in-state tuition at schools outside of my state. I emailed a professor there about his research and he pretty much offered me a research assistant position in his lab (even though I haven't been accepted yet). The position should cover my tuition, so I'd hopefully just be covering housing. I was originally discouraged by the lack of funding in the field, but if you do some hunting, you may be able to find opportunities. It might mean applying to programs that are not in your ideal location or level of prestige, but I think it is possible! Good luck.

No clue about waves, but I got two emails. The first one came this morning (basically just "Congratulations, you're accepted") and the second came this afternoon just saying to check the portal. The portal was updated with the acceptance sometime between when the first and second email were sent. I hope that makes sense.

I looked at the posts again and they're all from several (4-5) years ago, so hopefully things have changed! It might have been a weird transition period or something. That's what I hope.

I also applied. I talked to a professor there over video chat and she seemed like someone I'd really like to work with. I also enjoy Portland as a city and have had friends who went there for undergrad and loved how diverse PSU was. However, I've read on a few forums that the department is super disorganized and kind of a mess ☹️ This is all second-hand information, so who knows if it's true, but it's making me a bit hesitant about the program. Maybe someone here has more direct experience.

@flowerbloom Thanks so much for responding! Bummer about funding (and probably a deal-breaker assuming I get funding anywhere else), but it sounds like you had a good experience. This is not exactly on topic, but I noticed that you also got into Purdue. Was there a reason you preferred U Iowa over Purdue? I haven't heard back from Purdue but they're kind of in the same category for me out of the schools I applied to (Midwest, good reputation, relatively selective, research-focused, etc.).

Since I don't see a recent one, I wanted to start a thread for people accepted to the University of Iowa SLP MA program. I'm especially interested to hear the experiences of those who go to the Visit Day (when it happens), because I won't be able to make it. Also, if there are any current/former students on here, I'd love to get your take on the program. Here are a few questions I have so far: 1. How would you describe the feel/vibe of the program? Is it high-pressure? Relaxed? Supportive? Competitive? 2. What's your impression of how common funding (RA/TA/grants) is? If you get funding for the first year or term, how likely is it that you'll keep that funding for future terms? 3. What do you like least about the program? What do you like most? If you were accepted and want to add questions or just introduce yourself, that's great too!

I just sent in my seventh application out of eight and feeling both relieved and anxious about the wait for results. - Where are you from? I'm from Seattle but did my undergrad in Connecticut. I'm aiming for relatively low cost-of-living cities for grad school, so I'll likely end up in the Midwest, which will be new for me. As long as there's a dog park (and preferably snow in the winter), I'll probably be content. - Which programs are you applying to? Here's the list in random order: University of Kansas University of Nebraska, Lincoln University of Iowa University of Oregon Pennsylvania State University Idaho State University (I put Meridian as my top choice) Portland State University Purdue University - What are your biggest concerns about applications? I have plenty of anxiety about most things, and applications are no exception. I think not applying to University of Washington was the right choice for me, but I'm constantly second-guessing that decision (wasting the opportunity to get in-state tuition to a very good program!). I'm mostly counting on making my decision based on finances, so I'm worried that I won't have any choices that don't put me under a huge pile of debt. (Idaho State with WRGP is my back-up on that one.) Also, what if there is a decision deadline and I don't have all my funding information (RA/TA possibilities, etc.) before I have to make a decision and then I make a terrible mistake? Does anyone know how decision deadlines work (like deadlines for choosing a school)? How often do people end up in this scenario? I'm also worried that I missed some fine print in the application instructions and wasted a bunch of time and money on applications that will be thrown out immediately. In the same vein, I'm guessing a few of my myriad personal statements/essays are trash or have huge errors in them. We'll find out soon enough! Good luck to all.